the new apple iPad

While i dont give a crap about the device as much when compared to ALOT of other people...I want this OS for our Mini's and touchscreens.

If Apple does all the legwork with a better than "Front Row" GUI that deals with large buttons, music, video, all that...we've got a front end that needs little to no tweaking to be perfect for a 7" touchscreen in the car.

Give it time, Im sure we shall see something wonderful come from this "iPad" when its comes to carputing.

It has a 9.7-inch IPS display, wide angle view - bus it is daylight viewable under direct sunlight (that is, reflective or transflective display with AG coating, polarized and optically bonded like some tablets?)

“It’s half an inch thin and weighs just 1.5 pounds.” That's good. Most tablet pcs are .75" thin (slates, of course, they're the only one comparable), and up to 3.5Lbs or less for about 3.5 (Motion F5) to 9h (Fujitsu ST5111) on one standard battery, more with extras. This one? Claimed 10hs, one month on stand by!!!

Multitouch capacitive screen, which is good, not resistive. It’s powered by a 1GHz Apple A4 chip, and has 16GB to 64GB of flash.

I'm reasonably sure that the screen of this thing will severely kick the *** of any currently available carputer screen. I've had an iPhone since the beginning and it's screen works well in any kind of lighting. I expect that the iPad's screen will be similar.

I see this device as a near-complete carputer. All you need is a simple iPhone charger / radio interface.

Honestly, the only thing i can see this being useful for is in-car entertainment. At least, that's all i feel the OS is good for. If you have a big enough dash, it would be pretty sweet to have one of these mounted it in.

I was really disappointed when i saw it doesn't run a real version of OSX. It's seriously just a large iPod touch

I have to say that this tablet ( i refuse to actually call it by its official, horrible, horrible name due to the feminine product connotations that come with it) will not work well for a carputer. first off the version of itunes that it runs relies even more on you having to actually look at the machine ( it seems as if coverflow is gone, although i cannot confirm this). Theoretically you could write a new "front end" or music app but what is the point? As soon as you do you loose the ability to play music and view maps (no multitasking). you could wright some super app that tries to do both, but then you would have try and get it passed through the app store approval process on top of having to pay just to develop it in the first place. Im not trying to be super negative here, I just really don't think it is going to be a good fit in the car.

Check out the new version of NAS, a cross platform music frontend here

I have to say that this tablet ( i refuse to actually call it by its official, horrible, horrible name due to the feminine product connotations that come with it) will not work well for a carputer. first off the version of itunes that it runs relies even more on you having to actually look at the machine ( it seems as if coverflow is gone, although i cannot confirm this). Theoretically you could write a new "front end" or music app but what is the point? As soon as you do you loose the ability to play music and view maps (no multitasking). you could wright some super app that tries to do both, but then you would have try and get it passed through the app store approval process on top of having to pay just to develop it in the first place. Im not trying to be super negative here, I just really don't think it is going to be a good fit in the car.

Why wouldn't it work for a carputer? If you want multi-tasking and apps running in the background, Jailbreak it just like any iPhone/iPod Touch. Takes about 2 minutes.

With my iPhone in the car, I can play Pandora & music from my iPod with Navigon running. Same as will be with the iPad. No need to write any special app to do this, just jailbreak like everyone does which takes these devices into the stratosphere.

And to others, I'd like to know what one would need in the car that 140,000 available apps (as well as thousands more in Cydia if Jailbroken) - can't do. I don't understand the need to have a full-fledged computer in the car. I don't get that. Especially with the boot-time, etc. I'd like to understand what a full computer can do vs. iPad.

And to others, I'd like to know what one would need in the car that 140,000 available apps (as well as thousands more in Cydia if Jailbroken) - can't do. I don't understand the need to have a full-fledged computer in the car. I don't get that.

Maybe I'm not well informed, so please tell me which "app" can make the iPad drive, say, rear screens, with or without separate audio and video?

Is there an app to read and reset OBD data?

Can you hook an HD radio with that? Or XM?

Is the GPS reliable, or is based on cell phone towers? What's the refresh rate, etc.

Can you even hook an (powered) USB hub to that? Seriously, I'd like to know how many devices you can hook to that Apple Connector.

Can you hook, say, and external HD and play content from there, or you'd need iTunes?

Especially with the boot-time, etc. I'd like to understand what a full computer can do vs. iPad.

Windows 7 with hybrid sleep is about 2sec.

I like the iPad as something to use in the couch browsing the internet while watching tv. Other than that most of what you can do with it is to play media. But then you'll probably have to jailbrake it to access a 1tb external HD, and then hope somebody will develop a front end with big buttons and designed to work in the car.